Starting her first full week as a presidential contender, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed confidence she can win the 2008 Democratic nomination.

A photographer or two on the beach in Hawaii is nothing compared to the Capitol Hill swarm that greeted the newest presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama.

French President Jacques Chirac left open the possibility on Thursday that he might seek a third term and made clear that, if he doesn't, he does not intend to take a back seat during what will be his last few months in power.

Turkmenistan's six presidential candidates officially hit the campaign trail this week. They are traveling into terra incognito in Turkmenistan, where there has never been a multicandidate presidential election. And Turkmen citizens are even hearing some new things from the presidential candidates for the election scheduled for February 11.

Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, the Democratic Party's 2004 candidate for vice president, has announced he is running for the Oval Office itself. He joins two other announced candidates and a number of others who are reported considering a run for the White House in 2008. As VOA's Peter Fedynsky reports, two of those prospects are already attracting considerable attention.

Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards is the latest Democrat to formally announce he is running for president in 2008. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has details from Washington.